The Impact of Changes in Population Health and Mortality on Future Prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias in the United States

Objectives
We assessed potential benefits for older Americans of reducing risk factors associated with dementia.

Methods
A dynamic simulation model tracked a national cohort of persons 51 and 52 years of age to project dementia onset and mortality in risk reduction scenarios for diabetes, hypertension, and dementia.

Results
We found reducing incidence of diabetes by 50% did not reduce number of years a person ages 51 or 52 lived with dementia and increased the population ages 65 and older in 2040 with dementia by about 115,000. Eliminating hypertension at middle and older ages increased life expectancy conditional on survival to age 65 by almost 1 year, however, it increased years living with dementia. Innovation in treatments that delay onset of dementia by 2 years increased longevity, reduced years with dementia, and decreased the population ages 65 and older in 2040 with dementia by 2.2 million.

Conclusions
Prevention of chronic disease may generate health and longevity benefits but does not reduce burden of dementia. A focus on treatments that provide even short delays in onset of dementia can have immediate impacts on longevity and quality of life and reduce the number of Americans with dementia over the next decades.